Under the Skin (2014)

Written and Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Written by William Campbell
Based on the novel by Michel Faber
Starring:
Scarlet Johansson (The Island)

Some films are watched with a cloud hanging over them, a polarized nimbi of either unsatisfied confusion or awe struck wonder. In this circumstance it's tough to make a judgment for yourself without your opinion forming around a preexisting sentiment. A word that's already been used, a thought that has already been expressed. The goal in this type of situation is to jump on that previous strand of thought, infuse and surround it with whatever new emotions or observations that you can make and let your opinion precipitate in its own little bubble. (Then again, you may have never heard of this film.)

Under the Skin is undoubtedly a gorgeously filmed the movie. The sounds alone takes you on a unique ride. One moment you're surrounded by silence, the next, a pulsing or thumping takes over, building and building until there is a whole new environment encasing you. This movie does that multiple times. The scenes that take place in a void have a thrilling inhuman beat to them and are easily one of the more gripping sensory events of the year. 

It might just be me noticing Blu-ray quality but it was such a clear movie. The detail in the brightness and the contrast are serenely present. The use of absorbing black nothingness was reminicent of the aliens in Attack the Block, (not to mention some of those nearly incomprehensible accents).

Especially noticeable in how this movie is filmed is the stillness. The camera is patient. The shots lingers as the pieces in them move about like security camera footage but in high definition.

Now comes the polarizing nature of the film. The plot is confounding to say the least. Not the what, that is easy enough to see, but the why. The why is never given. It is left to us. The explicit sexual nature of the story grows tiresome and proves to be a bit shallow without anything to govern the necessity of it. Over all we are left with another day-in-the-life film akin to Only Lovers Left Alive or to cross genres, Inside Lleyn Davis. Also, much like those two films, the lead performer (in this case Scarlet Johansson, who is far more dominating than the other films' leads) does a phenomenal job.

Bottom Line: The cinematography is top notch, the strangeness is engrossing, but the thematic content is bland.

8 out of 10.